Confined Love
by LordCielPhantomhive
Summary: It's been 3 years since that Holy Day that Nezumi and him had gone their separate ways. Not much has changed for Shion, but he can't seem to get his friend off his mind.


_"Come to me in my dreams, and then, By day I shall be well again! For so the night will more than pay, The hopeless longing of the day."_

Shion had recited the section of a poem he had long since etched inside his heart to his mother while holding close a book of poetry he had recently become fond of. But this came as no surprise to Shion's mother. After his arrival - rather return, to No.6, the ivory haired boy had taken upon a new appreciation of the written works. Plays, poetry, literature, prose. It was all fascinating to him and he couldn't possibly reach a point where he tired of the magic the different forms of art brought him.

"My, that is a lovely poem." Karan approved generously, her eyes shining with the adoration for both her son and his appreciation for such intellectual material.

"Yeah," Shion nodded in agreement, returning her approval with a small smile. "I've memorized it, I really like it."

It was the in gap between afternoon and evening, Karan was currently in the process of cooking dinner. She refused to let her son move out from her home combined with the business of her infamous little bakery that did great business. Not once would she let her son out of her sight longer than needed after the incident that occurred, resulting in his absence for such a long period. Karan had been pushed to her limit back then and it was something she didn't care to experience ever again.

"Shion... but why only that part?" The middle-aged woman inquired with curiosity befitting her character. With a tilt of her head, she looked back at her son with that same smile that he was almost certain would give her wrinkles when she was older.

From the question, he could feel the heat rising and warming the depths of his cheeks. The clear blush almost blended in with the snake that wrapped around his cheek and descended further down his body from the result of surviving the parasite bees those few years ago.

"Oh... um," smiling with affliction, Shion closed the frayed book. "No reason. I'm going upstairs for a bit." The young man climbed the stairs that lead to the upstairs to a hall consisting of a bathroom, 3 bedrooms, and a room for laundry. Shion turned into his own room and closed the door behind him, leaning against it and flicking the lock with his thumb and index.

"That was close," he said with an exasperated sigh. It would have been immensely embarrassing for his mother to discover why that piece was so sentimental to him. Now with his eyes opened, Shion looked around as if he were hoping to see something of incredible interest. There was nothing, as one would predict. Just his bed, a desk with a computer and light for work or reading, a dresser, and a large bookshelf.

Shion walked over to the bookshelf, slipping the book back into its shelf where he assumed was its proper spot. He never really was good with organizing books much. He always forgot where he got a book and where it belonged. Nezumi had always scolded him for that.

_'Nezumi...'_

Shion let himself practically ghost over to the small balcony and opened the door, stepping out and inhaling the fresh scent of the evening glow. Making his way across the concrete roof of their home, he leaned against the railing that gave a small groan of protest. "I wonder how he's doing..."

How long had it been since he had seen Nezumi? Holy Day would arrive in just a month, marking it 3 years since they had turned and gone their separate ways. But Nezumi had promised that they would meet again one day, even if he was just fine. Occasionally, he would send Hamlet with a message to send to his friend, but every time, the rat would return empty-handed. Rikiga would often visit, mostly just to oogle over his mother, but refused to say anything about Nezumi. Shion had wondered countless amount of times why Nezumi hadn't contact him. Was it because he was busy? Or did he no longer wish to speak to him? The thought was enough to make anger well up deep from within him.

"Maybe I'm overreacting," he regretfully admitted. With a frown, he palmed the side of his face scarred from his near death experience that the same exact man he was daydreaming about, had saved him from. "For all I know, Nezumi could have a girlfriend. And he was always such a good actor... Maybe he's starting to become more successful."

Now conjuring up some delusional fantasy of Nezumi having a wife and sixteen kids, most of them little Nezumis' running about, Shion almost didn't even notice Hamlet scampering up to him. The little rat gave a few squeaks of joy, quickly scaling up Shion's large form until he reached the top of his mountain - Shion's shoulders.

"Ah, Hamlet." Shion smiled widely at the little rodent. Hamlet was all that he had to remind him of Nezumi. Therefore, it always made him feel better when his little friend was about. "Could you do me a favor?"

With a nod of confirmation from Hamlet, Shion hurried back inside, not even bothering to shut the door to the balcony. Another thing Nezumi would probably throw him into a wall for. Rushing to his desk, he pulled out a small slip of paper and wrote a few words in Japanese characters. After placing his pencil down, he rolled the piece of paper into a small cylinder and capped it.

"Find Nezumi and give this to him. Make sure he reads it, okay? And if you can, pester him to answer if he refuses to this time. Even if you have to bite his ear." Shion said firmly, handing the little message to the rat.

With a squeak, the rodent hopped down from the desk and hurried out the back door which was still opened. Shion quickly followed and slid the door shut, watching the small dot until it disappeared in the distance.

"You better answer me, Nezumi..."

"Shion, Mister Rikiga would like to take you out this weekend. You know, for some manly bonding?" Karan's eyes were arched and her smile was in an expression of amusement and she giggled softly to herself.

Eyes widening, Shion jolted in his seat at the dinner table. "E-eh!"

The reaction she received from her son further proved her amusement, and Karan broke out into a little laugh. Placing one hand to her chest, she waved the other in dismissal. "I thought you may feel like that so I politely turned him down."

A sigh of relief desperately escaped from Shion's lips as he blushed with embarrassment. "Oh, thank goodness... I don't think I could handle that."

Now the two of them laughed together over the idea of Rikiga taking him out shopping for 'manly bonding.' In the midst of their laughter, Shion heard a loud series of squeaking. Both Shion and his mother turned to look only to see Hamlet sitting on the floor, looking up at Shion with a little letter in his mouth.

"Nezumi!" Shion cried, hardly being able to contain his excitement as he dived for the rat. As soon as he had, he bolted for the stairs. "Thanks for dinner, mom! Bye!"

Hurrying up the stairs, Shion shut the door behind him and set Hamlet down on the desk. "Okay, Hamlet. Let's see what he said..." Heart racing with adrenaline, the ivory male took the little message and unrolled it slowly.

Upon the note read one simple word, but that one word made Shion's heart flutter into the night sky just outside his window.

_OK._

_-N_


End file.
